Growing the business of your dreams has a cost. It costs you more money and time than you (at first) think. It even costs you some current relationships. Sometimes you feel lonely. Success is not free – success has a cost. It takes courage to be successful. When you combine courage with your drive, ambition,…

So far we’ve grabbed the reader’s attention with a powerful headline. We’ve drawn their interest into the message with compelling stories. We’ve substantiated our story with some solid evidence, luring their desire with emotions or logical data. So guess what this is all leading up to? See, all the emotional hooks and logical proof are…

Some people will buy based on emotion, other people on logic. The first two parts of AIDA - Attention and Interest - appeal mostly to emotion. Data (or Desire) is the place for logic. Up until now, you made your case in emotional terms. That's exactly what you're supposed to do. Now, you need to…

So your headline has stopped the reader, and now you need to draw the reader into your article. You achieved the "A" in AIDA, now it's time for "I" - interest. The best way to capture Interest is with a story. Storytelling is incredibly powerful. Stories are the way that humans have made sense of…

Have you heard of AIDA? It's an acronym that stands for Attention Interest Data (or Desire) Action For today, we'll focus on the first item - Attention. You know how they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover? Funny thing about that. The late Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual, famously reminded…

It’s far easier, and much more cost-effective, to keep the customers you have rather than trying to attract new ones. It’s also much more profitable. In other words, fix your leaky bucket rather than constantly add more water. Selling more goods and services to customers you already know (and who know you) is far easier…

In our previous installment, we discussed how marketing to get new customers can be expensive and time-consuming. How can you compete? How can you get customers into your business? Well, here's something that's worked for me. Despite the rise of the Internet, direct mail advertising is still not only viable, it is incredibly effective. Just…

Most entrepreneurs spend a lot of time, energy, and resources on customer acquisition. Any entrepreneur will tell you that time, energy, and resources are the three most valuable commodities. They are also three of the most expensive and difficult marketing commodities to sustain. I am an eager and continuous student of marketing and business. You’ve…

Pause. Ponder. As a Dream Business entrepreneur, or someone who's on their way to becoming one, Small Business Saturday should be an exciting moment. Make small businesses competitive in the marketplace, strongly bonded with their audience and customers and equipped to take on the big-box stores - a great goal. Are you there yet? What's…

Happy Friday! I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration, if it was your holiday. By now, you've opened your e-mail and seen a whole bunch of Black Friday offers. Some from people you do business with already. Some from people you've never done business with. Some from people you've either never heard of... ...or…